Mascaras are a major cosmetic product of significant importance to the cosmetic industry. They are used to enhance the beauty of a person's eyes by coating the eyelashes, and in some cases, the eyebrows, to primarily thicken, lengthen, color, curl, and define the individual lashes.
Mascaras come in a variety of forms including cakes or blocks, creams, gels, semi-solids, and low viscosity liquids. Cake mascaras were originally the most popular form consisting of at least 50% soap with the pigment mixed in with the soap cakes. With a wet brush, the mascara could be lathered and then applied to the lashes resulting in a satisfactory smooth application, but with a thin cosmetic coating on the individual lashes. The primary drawback was that the film on the lashes was very water soluble and prone to smudging and running on the skin around the perimeter of the eye. As a resolution, waxes were incorporated into mascara compositions thereby improving their water-resistant properties. Unfortunately, the smoothness of the application was adversely affected. That is, as the viscosity of the mascara formulation increased, it became increasingly harder to apply, messier, and yielded less separation of the lashes.
With the advent of mascara applicators (formerly referred to as “automatic” applicators) a means for expanding formulation options for mascaras came into existence. Creams, for example, combined with a twisted metal wire brush or wand application provided a convenient use and composition that enabled the incorporation of film formers to improve the rubbing resistance and flexibility of mascara films. This also allowed a convenient implement to separate and build the lashes. Today, there are several types of mascara formulations including anhydrous, water-in-oil emulsions, oil-in-water emulsions, and water-based mascaras that contain little or no oil phase. The emulsions, previously mentioned, may also be multiple emulsions for example, but not limited to water-in-oil-in-water emulsion. Many mascaras are water-based emulsions and contain emulsified waxes and polymers usually with pigments dispersed into the water phase. The water provides curling and application properties, while the waxes and polymers create the transfer resistant end mascara film on the lash that is colored by the pigments. Anhydrous and water-in-oil mascaras are generally referred to as waterproof mascaras, as they have superior transfer resistance, especially to water. Their high content of hydrophobic materials creates a film which contains very little materials that allow water to break up the film and make it wear away. In the case of the water-in-oil mascaras, the internal droplets of water can deliver water-soluble/dispersible materials that would otherwise not be able to be incorporated into an oily phase. The water-based mascaras are typically gelled water with a polymer to create deposition and hold of the lashes. These mascaras usually do not have colorants, although colorants can be added in.
Consumers expect particular properties from their mascara products such as adhesion to the lashes, lengthening/curling of the lashes, lack of smudging or flaking, thick lashes, and good separation of clumps of lashes. Particularly, the desire is for long, luscious, full, soft, and separated lashes. Mascaras generally distribute a smooth and relatively thin (coating thickness) film over the eyelashes producing a satisfactory array of reasonably separated lashes that are darker and thicker than bare lashes, making the eyes more noticeably beautiful. It is well understood that some lash clumping will naturally occur since lashes are arranged in both rows and columns above and below one's eye. Therefore, “reasonably separated” lashes are not necessarily envisioning every lash as a single entity. Mascara that is deemed by a user to separate well will leave more clumps of lashes than mascara that is deemed not to separate lashes well. Typically, the deposition of mascara has a coating that is 5-15 microns thick. Many “volumizing” mascaras, however, are messy and clumpy and tend to clump too many lashes together in a thick, less separated look which gives the look of fewer lashes.
Notwithstanding the above, the present inventors have found a system which combines a large particle-containing mascara composition in combination with a molded applicator that is designed in such a way as to allow large particle transfer and compositions comprising the same in addition to sufficient lash combing. Such combination will thicken the diameter of lashes while keeping them well separated, leaving the appearance of thick, well-separated, and beautiful lashes.